We’re quite lucky in that Archie was relatively easy to toilet train. My Mum made it her goal when he was 4 or 5. Joseph was about 2 at the time and I was pregnant with Louis so I was happy to hand that job over. It took quite a long time – we had to try and keep him on the toilet until something happened so it was a bit hit and miss but we got there in the end.

We were fortunate that Archie had enough control over his muscles and enough understanding that toilet training was achievable, but it fairly often isn’t for children with severe autism or learning disabilities. In this case the PCT should provide incontinence products. Many PCT’s have imposed arbitrary limits on the number of nappies allowed each day leaving families short . You generally can’t just pop down to your local supermarket for larger nappies and they’re very expensive.

This problem was brought to David Cameron’s attention by during a pre-election chat on Mumsnet where he promised to look into the issue. Meanwhile Mumsnet joined forces with Every Disabled Child Matters to launch a campaign calling for an abolition to ceiling limits on nappies set by PCT’s.

Mid August there was some success. The Secretary of State for Health wrote to the Chief Executive of the NHS asking him to tell PCT’s that: ‘Pads (nappies) should be provided in quantities appropriate to the individual’s continence needs. Arbitrary ceilings are inappropriate’.

Further details can be found on the Every Disabled Child Matters website.

I heard from a friend earlier this week that our PCT are still setting limits so I emailed the continence service yesterday asking them to confirm that they are aware of this guidance. I will post the response here when it’s received.